Chapter 77: Reunion of the Fallen

Bellaluna Rosalina

Black Rose Mountains

 

“Tell me, Bellaluna,” Asuramon began. “Why did you leave us?”

“That’s not my name!” I said defensively. “I go by Luna now!”

“Luna? So, you’ve shortened your name now…Still, it’s a pretty name, one befitting its owner,” Asuramon said. “Now…don’t avoid my question any longer. I’ve waited over ten years for this answer; why did you leave us?”

“Asuramon, I—”

“Why did you leave us?!” Asuramon’s center head, the one with the red mask, was the one who spoke now. “It’s been ten years since you left! Ten long years, and the two of us have wasted that time doing nothing but wait for you!”

“Asuramon, I...I’m sorry, but I—”

“It's so wonderful to see you again,” the head with the yellow mask said. He reached out one of his four arms, one from his right side, and delicately stroked my face with his hand and wiped away the tears that had begun streaming from my eyes. “Look at you! Somehow…somehow, you’ve gotten even more beautiful since the last time we’ve seen you; at the time, I’d have thought that to be impossible…Clearly, I was mistaken; you are more beautiful than ever.”

“Asuramon...” I whispered breathlessly, tears slipping down my face as quickly as they slid down Asuramon’s left head, the one wearing the blue mask.

“I...we’ve missed you so much!” the blue-masked head spoke, wiping the tears from his eyes with one of his left arms. “And now…now, you’re finally back!”

“Asuramon, please...please forgive me,” I said with a small smile. Just then as Asuramon's right hand moved from my face to grab me by the neck.

“But that does not change the fact that you left us! Abandoned us! BETRAYED US! And for that, you must die!” Asuramon's center head shouted.

“Asuramon, calm down!” commanded a voice from above.

“P…Parrotmon?”  I struggled to turn my head towards the voice, but Asuramon tightened his grip around my neck.

“Bellaluna…well, isn’t your pretty face a sight for sore eyes?” Parrotmon asked, swooping down from the sky and landing on the ground next to his partner. “Asuramon, stop being so impatient! You might be the smarter of the two of us, but even I know that we still need her to tell us what we want, and she can’t do that if you kill her, right?” Asuramon's grip around my neck lessened, and he finally dropped me on the ground, coughing and gasping for air.

“Did you get the girl?” Asuramon asked.

“Boy, it’s been a while since all three of us have been together like this,” Parrotmon said. “Over ten years, right? Boy, we sure had some fun…”

“Parrotmon!” Asuramon interrupted. “Did…you…get…the…girl?!”

“Yep; got ‘er right here!” Parrotmon held out his right hand, which was holding a small, young girl, his fingers wrapped around and under her arms to prevent her from leaving, a precaution that seemed useless as the girl looked unconscious.

“N—No...Chrysania...?” I gasped, still struggling to breathe.

“So, that's what you decided to name her,” Asuramon said, looking at Chrysania’s small, unmoving body.

“That other girl sure is lucky she went down that other fork,” Parrotmon said. “I’d hate to have to do this to that little beauty!”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“That girl…if I’m not mistaken, she carries the Mark, no?” Asuramon asked.

“…And if she does?” I asked.

Asuramon smirked, his yellow face turning to speak. “She’s lucky, then…She won’t have to deal with me,” Asuramon began laughing. “The Marked…filthy half-breed scum don’t deserve to live!”

I raised my arm and slapped Asuramon across his yellow-masked face. “Don’t you fucking dare ever talk about her like that again!” I yelled. “Without even knowing her as an individual, you automatically assume she doesn’t have the right to exist, just because she carries that stupid mark?!” Asuramon’s grin widened. “You make me sick, Asuramon! Zelda is my friend! You have no right — no right whatsoever — to talk about her like that! Zelda is the kindest, gentlest person I have ever met! She’s dealt with people like you her entire life, and she’s still able to find it in her heart to care about the well-being of people that insult her like that!”

“Whatever…”

“Why did you call me up here, anyway?! Just to insult the people I love?!”

“Bellaluna…You will tell us what we want to know, and your fake daughter won’t have to be hurt. Tell us…where the Horcruxes are.”

“The…Horcruxes?”

“The Necklace. The Silk. The Diadem. The Mask. The Medallion. The Stone. The Jewel. Those were the seven Horcruxes we didn’t find,” Asuramon said. “The Sword, the Flute, and the Mirror are already in our possession. Now…tell us where the other seven are, or ‘Chrysania’ as you call her will receive your punishment!”

“The Horcruxes? Oh, please; don’t be so boring,” Parrotmon said. “What I want is the secret to Maleficia!”

“Maleficia?” I repeated.

“You know, that spell that gives you the ability to use every Digimon attack there is!” Parrotmon said. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten already?!”

“You speak too much, Parrotmon,” Asuramon said. “But for once…you are correct. The secret to Maleficia…would be far more beneficial than the powers given to us by the Horcruxes.”

“The powers? Then…you don’t want the Horcruxes for the souls?”

“Of course not! It’s a lot more beneficial for us to have those souls locked away forever in those little trinkets! After all, once a soul leaves, the trinket loses the special powers!” Parrotmon said.

“…If you did have the Horcruxes…If you did now Maleficia…what would you do with them?” I asked.

“What do you think, idiot?! What the three of us used to do in the good old days!” Asuramon said. “Now, tell us what we want to know if you don’t want this child harmed!” Asuramon slapped me across the face.

“No, please don't — I don't know anything! Please…don’t hurt her,” I sobbed, trying to stand up, but Asuramon slammed his foot onto my back, pinning me to the ground. “Don’t…hurt…her…”

“You know that wasn’t what we wanted to hear. Parrotmon!” Asuramon looked at the other Ultimate Digimon and nodded. Parrotmon lifted up Chrysania's left arm and opened his beak.

“No...What are you doing?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief as Parrotmon placed Chrysania’s hand, up to the wrist, in his mouth. “No! Stop! Please, don’t hurt her! Don't hurt my baby! DON'T HURT MY BABY!” Parrotmon ignored my desperate wailing as he snapped his beak tightly shut around Chrysania's wrist, causing her to wake up and shriek in pain.

Zelda

 

“ChaosGallantmon? You’ve—”

“Yes…My inner darkness has been awoken,” ChaosGallantmon said. “You were so…happy to see me, you didn’t notice that I look different now…how like you…Zelda…”

“Well…it doesn’t matter to me that your name and your colors have changed,” I said. “You’re still Gallantmon on the inside…the same Digimon Spirit that I met many years ago…I’m glad you’re okay, Gallantmon! I’ve been so worried about you!”

“You…really…cared about me?” ChaosGallantmon asked. “Even though I…abandoned you? Over and over?”

I nodded. “Our personalities are complete opposites…but I don’t care,” I said. “I love you just as much as my other Digimon Spirits.”

“Zelda…”

“I’m so happy to see you!” I looked up again at the knight, smiling widely. “So…what are you doing here, Gallantmon?”

“I was told…someone would be coming down this way,” ChaosGallantmon said. “I was ordered…to destroy that person, but I…I didn’t know it was you…”

“That’s because I didn’t tell you,” a deep voice boomed.

“Master! I—”

“No need for words, ChaosGallantmon. Just do your job.”

“Who is that?” I asked.

“Well…I suppose it has been a while since we’ve last met,” the voice replied. “The very least I could do is grace you with my visit before your former friend here skewers you with his lance and serves you for lunch!” A light blue shadow crept out from underneath ChaosGallantmon, and from it rose a Digimon. “Please tell me you haven’t forgotten my beautiful face, have you?”

“Ice…Devimon...” The memories of that Digimon, of the horrible things he’d done, the things he made Clive do, instantly rushed into my head. “This Digimon…Gallantmon…you’re working for him?” ChaosGallantmon lowered his head and remained silent. “You are…you really are working for this terrible person?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll admit it; I’m a bad guy,” IceDevimon said. “The powers I gave to Clive while living inside him…he used them to murder your precious sister…Hannah, wasn’t it?” I said nothing as he spoke; my hand was gripped tightly around the opening of the satchel at my waist. “And then there were all those naughty things Clive did before he was even aware of my existence…I knew what it was he had done, and I chose him as the host for my spirit until I fully recovered. I chose the man that had raped Thomas’s surrogate mother when she was sixteen. Clive may have been a bumbling idiot, but we did share that particular interest in common…” IceDevimon grinned at me. But soon, it faded. “Now, on to business. Your right eye, Zelda. Show it to me. Right now!” My heart skipped a beat, and hesitantly, I moved my hair away from my right eye. In the blink of an eye, IceDevimon stood directly in front of me, and was looking directly into my eyes. “…Hmm…Both the same color…I figured she may have died her green hair a different color, but there’s nothing that can be done about eyes, I suppose…But you are not the woman I was searching for for all those years…”

“You…you knew Zelda would be coming this way, didn’t you?” ChaosGallantmon asked.

“Of course I did! I knew she was a Summoner; I knew she would sense your presence once she got to that fork in the road. And she’s alone, too…That’ll make it easier for us to…have our fun.”

“You…you would actually—”

“Get to it!” IceDevimon barked, interrupting the Digimon Spirit. “I didn’t make you stronger just to have you bitch at me all day!” ChaosGallantmon lowered his head, and then turned to face me.

“Zelda…I’m sorry…”

“…You know…I fought someone out of revenge once…it wasn’t too long ago,” I said. I pulled a Digimon Talisman from my satchel and gazed at it. “The feeling I got…while I did it…I made him hurt. I made him bleed, and feel pain…I wasn’t able to control myself while I was attacking him over and over like that…It was awful, the feeling I got when it was all over, when I realized what I had done. I…I don’t ever want to feel that way again; I don’t want to experience that feeling I got from hurting someone else…But this Digimon…IceDevimon…he needs to die. He is not someone that can be allowed to roam free. For Hannah…for Victoria…for all the people you’ve hurt…IceDevimon must perish!”

“I…I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” ChaosGallantmon said sullenly, raising his lance. “IceDevimon is my master…he made me stronger…I won’t let you…hurt him…”

“I’m sorry…I don’t want to hurt you, but he must be dealt with!” I said. “Come forth, Dynasmon!”